Cultural Intelligence as Driver of Team Performance? An Empirical Investigation (PDF)

Master's Thesis from the year 2019 in the subject Psychology - Work, Business, Organisation, grade: 1,3, University of Flensburg (Internationales Institut für Management und ökonomische Bildung), language: English, abstract: This study is among the first which identified a relationship between CQ and team performance in a business setting, including a moderating role of virtuality. These findings serve to demonstrate that team performance can be enhanced through intercultural trainings corresponding to different factors of CQ, which hence, serve as a possible starting point for improved international cooperation.

The trend of technological development and increasing competition within the global economy requires more profound answers to the question of why some people are more effective in intercultural environments than others. Therefore, research about cultural intelligence (CQ), defined as the ability to cope in intercultural settings, has received increasing attention for the last years. The multidimensional construct of CQ, introduced in 2003 by Earley and Ang, analyses CQ from four different angles: Metacognitive CQ focuses on the awareness of other cultures, while cognitive CQ revolves around adaptive cultural standards. Motivational CQ addresses the interest in meeting other cultures. Finally, behavioral CQ refers to the intuitive behavior of people within intercultural interactions.

To tighten the gap of knowledge within this field of research this study is aimed at elucidating the relation between the single factors of CQ and team performance, measured on three indicators. Moreover, the moderating effect of virtuality and team identification on this relation should be examined, since international teams are often characterized by a virtual communication and less cohesion. This should give further insights on how to correctly cope with the increasing local flexibility in the business environment.